I have always been one of those people who loves to get out into the world and talk with other people, but a few years ago, I realized that I had to do something about my smile. My teeth were yellow and unattractive, and it was really discouraging to see how much different my smile was. I knew that I needed to get my teeth fixed, so I started working with a professional dentist to make things right. Within a few short months, my smile was completely transformed, and I knew that I owed it all to my dental professional. Check out this blog for more information about working with a dentist.

Working With A Great Dentist

How To Care For A Dental Implant

1 April 2015

Harper Hughes

A dental implant is an expensive fix to a tough problem. Consisting of a titanium root and a porcelain crown, a dental implant may seem like it is nearly indestructible, but if you don't take care of your implant, it can fail. If you want to take care of your investment and keep your smile whole, you need to know the keys to caring for your implant.

Avoid Metal Hygienist Tools

Titanium is a strong metal, but the tools that your hygienist uses can scratch it. If you don't warn your hygienist that you have an implant or implants, your hygienist can scratch your prosthetic root. This scratching might not seem like a big deal, but even small scratches can create pathways to allow bacteria to leak below your gum line. Once this happens, the bacteria can eat away at your gums and bone structures, which can not only cause your implant to fail, but can cause you to lose other teeth as well. Hygienists should use only approved tools around your implant.

Avoid Stannous Flouride

To preserve the look of your tooth, you need to avoid stannous fluoride. Porcelain might look like normal tooth enamel, but it won't behave completely like enamel. While your natural teeth might be able to handle all fluoride treatments, stannous fluoride can etch your crown and cause it to look rough. Thus, if you are looking for ways to strengthen your teeth, you need to look past stannous fluoride.

Toothbrush Choice?

While you need to be careful about some of the ways that you care for your teeth, your choice of toothbrush will have little impact on the care of your implant. The main concern is to make sure that you keep your implant clean. While plaque might not erode your crown like it will eat holes in your other teeth, bad hygiene can hurt your gums. Once your gums fail, your implant can fail also.

If you have concerns about your implant, don't keep them to yourself. Talk to your periodontist to learn all of the keys to take care of your implant. Rather than risk losing your implant and allow your jaw bone, gums, and surrounding teeth to fail, you should learn everything there is to know about taking care of your implant. While the above suggestions are a good place to start, you need to make sure that you stay current on taking care of your prosthetic tooth. Talk to a periodontist.